Mortal Instruments sequel, City of Ashes, will bring back stars and director

Looks like Hollywood has franchise fever today. (Okay, true, when doesn't it?) Not an hour after learning that Summit is gearing up its follow-up to DIVERGENT before that film has even opened, MORTAL INSTRUMENTS producer Martin Moszkowicz has announced via his Facebook page that a sequel is already on the horizon, with stars Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower coming back, along with director Harold Zwart.

MORTAL INSTRUMENTS, the first adaptation of a series of fantasy-horror books, comes out on August 23rd. While it obviously remains to be seen if it resonates with audiences, the producers are obviously excited enough about it to ramp up work on the sequel, CITY OF ASHES. It is believed that they'll start shooting this fall.

This is in addition to the prequel that is being worked on, titled INFERNAL DEVICES. There's plenty of MORTAL INSTRUMENTS in our future, folks. Thankfully, the first one looks intriguing enough to make us hesitantly optimistic. Watch the trailer below.

Here's the synopsis for CITY OF ASHES:

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go—especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil—and also her father.